May 10 - 2008 - The Mountain Vista Wrestlers found early success over the last two weekends in both Greco and Freestyle events.

At the Outlaw Classis held at Strasburg High School, several wrestlers placed in both styles:

Brandon King (Schoolboy) 85-95 Pounds - 2nd Place Greco-Roman
Nick King (Cadet) 119 Pounds - 2nd Place Greco-Roman, 2nd Place Free-Style
Keegan Stritchko (Cadet) 105 Pounds - 2nd Place Greco-Roman, 1st Place Free-Style
Taylor Gutierrez - (Junior) 285 Pounds - 3rd Place Greco-Roman, 1st Place Free-Style

Three wrestlers placed at the CUSAW Qualifying event held at Lake County High School.  These wrestlers qualify for the tryouts for the CO Free-Style Dual Team.

Keegan Stritchko (Cadet) - 105 Pounds - 2nd Place - Freestyle
Greg Hachtel (Junior) - 160 Pounds - 2nd Place - Freestyle
Dalton Breen-Martin (Junior) 171 Pounds - 1st Place - Freestyle

February 27, 2008 - Last night the team celebrated the season with an amazing banquet and awards night set up by the parents and coaches.  Each Mountain Vista Wrestler was recognized for his accomplishments and the team once again had a great opportunity to bond and celebrate the success from this season.

 Banquet Highlights:

VARSITY MVP - Matt Conahan (140)
JV MVP - Jeremy Brown (135)
COACHES AWARD - Matt Ramirez (119)
MOST IMPROVED - Dalton Breen-Martin (171)
IRON EAGLE - Grant Johnson (135)
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR - Skyler Moede (98)

THE SPARTAN AWARDS:

Most Wins - 31 - Dalton Breen-Martin - New School Record
Most Takedowns - 85 - Matt Conahan - New School Record
Most Pins - 19 - Ross Palmer - New School Record
Most Reverals - 18 - Stephen Johnson, Matt Conahan
Most Earned Escapes - 24 - Matt Conahan
Most Decisions - 9 - Tom Maxwell, Dalton Breen-Martin
Most Near-Falls - 43 - Matt Conahan
Most Team Points - 150 - Dalton Breen-Martin

All-Regional: Matt Ramirez, Matt Conahan, Anthony Umana, Dalton Breen-Martin
State Qualifiers: Matt Conahan, Matt Ramirez

All-State Academic Team - Grant Johnson, Steve Johnson, Ross Palmer, Ryan Moorman, Matt Conahan

3-Year Letter Winner - Ross Palmer (130)

Feb. 17, 2008 - Matt Ramirez (119) and Matt Conahan (140) led the team this weekend at the Region 2 Championships held at Fort Collins High School.  With Ramirez and Conahan qualifying for states,and two other wrestlers placing, Mountain Vista realized its best Regionals finish in school history.  In the deepest of the four regional tournaments, Region 2 featured seven state ranked programs.  Despite the depth, many of the Vista wrestlers found success.

119: Matt Ramirez, a junior, peaked at the right time this season.  Over the weekend Matt uspet two state ranked wrestlers and finished ahead of another to earn his berth to the 5A State Wrestling Championships.  In the preliminary round, Matt pinned his opponent at the 3:19 mark in the second period.  In the quarterfinals Matt lost his only bout of the tournament, dropping a close 2-0 decision to the state-ranked Pine Creek wrestler who later finished fifth. Matt then won a solid 6-2 decision over a tough Rocky Mountain opponent in his first wrestle-back.  Matt's next match was against Brighton High School and a win would send him to the finals round.  Matt pinned his man in just 39 seconds.  In the consi-semis Matt wrestled Thunderidge High School, a young man who was ranked in the state.  Matt lost by one point to the same wrestler early in the season.  Matt controlled his opponent the entire match, scoring the only takedowns and winning 5-3 to advance to the third place finals.  There he faced his last state ranked opponent from Stanley Lake. Matt solidified his state championship appearance by winning the bout by decision with a 7-5 victory, again scoring the only takedowns of the match.  Matt went 5-1 at the event, finished third, and qualified for the State Championships. 

140: Matt Conahan, also a junior, finished as high as any wrestler in school history at the Regional tournament with his second place finish in the Region 2 finals.  Matt stormed to the finals by winning his first three rounds in fashion.  Proving that he could easily push the pace, Matt's opponents simply could not keep up.  In round one Matt earned a major decision with a 15-5 victory over Pine Creek High School.  He scored four takedowns during the match, extending his takedown record into the 80s.  In the quarterfinals, Matt faced Thorton High School. He scored another dominant major decision, winning 13-1 and adding three more takedowns.  In the semifinals on day two, Matt had already scored 10 match points when he pinned his Arvada High School oppponent at the 4:31 mark of round three and advancing to the tournmant finals.  In the finals Matt faced his highest state-ranked opponent of the tournament and made a costly mistake in the third period to lose the match.  However, Matt went 3-1 at the event, placed second, earned his State Championship appearance, scored his 29th season victory, extended his takedown record to 84 on the season, and enters States as a second seed.

Other Placers:

160: Anthony Umana, a first year sophomore, surprised everyone with his place-winning performance at the Regional Championships this weekend.  He proved himself a contender despite his lack of experience by winning the right matches at the right time to enter the finals round.  Anthony won his opening round by second period pin against his opponent from Arvada. His second win later in the event came by third period pin over Rocky Mountain. His third and final win putting him into the finals round was an 8-1 decision over Thorton High School.  Anthony eventually finished 6th and is the first place-winner in school history to do so in his very first year of wrestling at the high school level.

171: Dalton Breen-Martin, a junior, was the last place-winner from Vista.  Finishing sixth, Dalton won his first round with a first period pin at the 1:01 mark against his man from George Washington. In the quarterfinals he lost his first match while wrestling a close contest with state-ranked Pine Creek.  In the wrestle-backs, Dalton stayed alive with a close 3-2 decision over Bear Creek. He followed this by another 3-2 decision over Gateway to advance to the finals round.  In the consi-semis, Dalton wrestled the Smoky Hill 71lber who pinned him earlier this year.  Dalton came quite close to earning his revenge, but fell short in a 5-9 loss.  Despite not qualifying for states, Dalton realized another important landmark by breaking the school record for most wins in a single season.  With his win over Gateway, Dalton capped his 31st victory, breaking the mark of 30 set by Nate Hill in 2007. Dalton also lead the team in decisions and is second to Matt Conahan in almost every other team stat category.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS FROM REGIONALS:

103: Freshman Keegan Strichko missed placing by one match, but finished the season with a winning record .  Keegan notched his 20th victory and his 106th team point. 
125: Wrestling a bit too small for his weight class, Steve Johnson showed a ton of heart by competing well at 125. One of only two returning varsity starters, Steve finished with his second consecutive season winning record.  He finished the season with 21 wins, 12 pins, and 112 points.  He is currently tied with the team record of 18 reversals on the season.
135: Grant Johnson, a junior, wrestled JV for most of the year.  When Ryan Moorman was injured out of the weight class, Johnson stepped up in fashion.  Missing placing in regionals by only one match, he more than proved himself.  He won two matches en route to the consi-quarters.  There, many agree that Grant was robbed of his place-winning performance.  The underdog against a tough Fort Collins opponent, Grant used his top-notch conditioning to stay in the match.  In the match of his life, he scored two 3rd period takedowns to tie the score, but was denied obvious back-points.  In first overtime he was again denied two obvious takedowns.  He eventually lost in the forth overtime by one point.

GREAT JOB VISTA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

February 10, 2008 - The JV team found much success at this weekend's league championships.  Eleven Mountain Vista wrestlers placed in the event. 

At 135lbs ninth grader Jeremy Brown stormed to the finals of the JV tournament, beating several juniors en route to his championship performance and 1st place finish. Brown had two pins in the tournament and two come from behind wins.

At the 98 lb weight class newcomer freshmen Skyler Moede won his way to the finals of the sophomor bracket.  He took second at the weight.  Moede scored a first period pin in the quarterfinals.

Sophomore Matt Manning (145) finished 2nd in the JV bracket.  In his first two rounds he scored a third period pin and a 12-10 decision to advance to the finals.

Sophomore Matt Gardern (152) also finished with the silver in the JV bracket.  In his first match he scored a first period pin.

Tim Berges, a junior 125lber finished 3rd in the JV tournament.  Going 3-1 on the day, Tim won via a second period pin,  a 9-7 decision, and a second period pin in the third place finals.

Dylan Sinew (112) finished 4th.  Mitch Sedylmary (103 JV), Mike Carter (140 SO), and Rick Woo (171 JV) all finished fifth in the event. Ben Whetstone (125 SO) and Cameron Okubo (130 JV) both finished sixth.

February 2, 2008 - At the end of the regular season, the following Golden Eagles are on the leaders' board. This follows the last match vs Fort Collins.  MVHS won 48-24 and set a new school record for best dual season at a 15-11 mark. 

Best Record: 28-10 Dalton-Breen Martin (Two wins shy of the school wins/season record.

Most Pins: 19- Ross Palmer  (NEW SCHOOL RECORD)

Most Takedowns: 74- Matt Conahan (NEW SCHOOL RECORD)

Most Escapes: 23- Tom Maxwell

Most Reversals: 16 - Steve Johnson

Most Near-Falls: 39 - Matt Conahan

Most Team Points: 138- Dalton Breen-Martin

The team is now 15-11 and has outscored opponents 1048-871.

The team finished second out of 10 schools at the Columbine Invitational and first out of 11 at the MVHS Invitational. At dual tournaments they placed fourth at Weld Central, first at Dakota Ridge, and fourth at Green Mountain.

Feb. 2, 2008 - The Varsity Mountain Vista wrestlers had another successful weekend and another place-winning finish at a tournament with their fourth place conclusion to the Green Mountain Duals.  The twelve team event featured several state-ranked programs and dozens of state ranked wrestlers from both 4A and 5A.  MVHS finished ahead of rival Thunde Ridge who placed fifth with 169 points to the MVHS total of 177 points.  Team records fell on the day when the team earned their 14th team dual victory in a season, when Ross Palmer shattered the school PIN record of 17 as he advanced to 19, and when Matt Conahan eclipsed the impressive school mark of 70 takedowns when he earned his 74th.  The team went 2-2 on the day with two close losses, one by only one match due to an unfortunate injury forfeit.

MVHS 30, Smoky Hill 34 - The team fell in the first round, but had an impressive showing as they lost by a slim one-match margin.  Due to a recent medical condition, Gabe Smith (189) had to sit the match out. 

MVHS - 60, Mullen - 21 - Storming into the next round, the Golden Eagles captured a lop-sided decision with many pins to improve to 1-1 on the day.  During the match, Ross Palmer earned his 18th pin and broke the school record of 17.

MVHS - 60, Lakewood - 18 - The team improved to 2-1 when they scored yet another decisive victory over Lakewood.  Matt Conahan (140) broke the school takedown record of 70 when he scored six takedowns in the match and then the pin to seal the deal.

MVHS - 24, Fossil Ridge 35 - Facing their most challenging bout of the day, the Golden Eagles didn't back down.  The Fossil Ridge squad featured six state-ranked wrestlers.  The match of the day was Dalton Breen Martin's (171) victory by pin over state-ranked Leistikow of FR.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS:

*First year sophomore Taylor Gutierrez (285) went 4-1 this week including a pin against his opponent from Smoky Hill.
*Several wrestlers have surpassed the 20 win mark on the season including Steve Johnson (125), Ross Palmer (130), Matt Conahan (140), Tom Maxwell (145), and Dalton Breen-Martin (171). 
*Breen-Martin is edging dangerously close to the school record of 30 individual season wins. He's up to 27 and counting!!!
*Matt Conahan was selected as the week eight Wrestler of the Week for his performances at the Green Mountain Duals and for breaking the school takedown record.

Feb.2 2008 - At the Thunder Ridge Junior Varsity tournament this weekend, five of the eight Mountain Vista wrestlers took home the title.  Each of the five went 4-0 on the day to claim the gold medal.  Skyler Moede (98), Mitch Sedylmayr (103), Jeremy Brown (135), Matt Manning (140), and Mike Carter (145) were our five champions.  Carter also won the award for the fastest pin in the tournament, earning the fall in one of his matches in just 15 seconds.  Although no team score was kept for the event, Mountain Vista was the top performing program...having the most undefeated title winners.  Great job guys!